158 The Mallard. — Anas hoschas, 



tflon ; and the ingenuity of man, in every country where it frequents, baa 

 been employed in inventing stratagems to overreach these wary birds, and 

 procure a delicacy for the table. To enumerate all these various contrivances, 

 would far exceed our limits ; a few, however, of the most simple and effective; 

 may be mentioned. 



'* In some ponds frequented by these birds, five or six wooden figures,, 

 cat and painted so as to represent Ducks, and sunk, by pieces of lead 

 nailed on their bottoms, so as to, float at the usual depth on the surface, are 

 anchored in a favorable position for being raked frora a concealment of 

 brush, &c., on shore. The appearance of these usually attracts passing 

 flocks, which alight, and are shot down.. Sometimes eight or ten of these: 

 painted wooden Ducks are fixed on a frame in various swimming postures, 

 and secured to the bow of the gunner's skiff, projecting before it in such a. 

 manner that the weight of the frame sinks the figures to their proper depth ;. 

 the skiff is then dressed with sedge or coarse grass in an artfnl manner, as 

 low as the water's edge ; and under cover of this, which appears like a party 

 of Ducks, swimming by a small island, the gunner floats down sometimes to 

 the very skirts of a whole congreg-ated multitude, and pours in a destructive 

 and repeated fire of shot among them. In winter, when detached pieces of 

 ice are occasionally floating in the river, some of the gunners on the Dela- 

 ware paint their whole skiff or canoe white, and, laying themselves flat at 

 the bottom, with their hand over the side, silently managing a small paddle,, 

 direct it imperceptibly into or near a flock, before the Ducks have distii>- 

 guished it from a floating mass of ice, and generally do great execution 

 among them. A whole flock has sometimes been thus surprised asleep 

 with their heads under their wings. On land another stratagem is some- 

 times practised with great success. A large, tight hogshead is sunk in the 

 fiat marsh, or mud, near the place where Ducks are accustomed to feed at 

 low water, and where otherwise there is no shelter ; the edges and top are 

 artfully concealed with tufts of long, coarse grass, and reeds or serge. 

 From within this the gunner, unseen and unsuspected, watches his collecting 

 prey, and, when a sufficient number offers, sweeps them down with great 

 efiect. The mode of catching Wild Ducks, as practised in India, China». 

 the Island of Ceylon, and some parts of South America, ha^ been often 

 described, and seems, if reliance may be placed on those accounts, only 

 practicable in water of a certain depth. The sportsman, covering his head 

 with a hollow wooden vessel, or calabash, pierced with holes to see through,, 

 wades into the water, keeping his head only above, and, thus disguised, 

 moves in among the flock, which take the appearance to be a mere floating 

 calabash, while, suddenly pulling them under by the legs, he fastens them 

 to his gu'dle, and thus takes as many as he can conveniently stow away, 

 without in the least alarming the rest. They are also taken with snares 

 made of horse hau-, or with hooks baited with small pieces of sheep's lights, 

 which, floating on the surface, are swallowed by the Ducks, and with them 

 the hooks. They are also approached under cover of a stalking horse, or a 

 figure formed of thin boards, or other proper materials, and painted so m 

 lepreseat a horse or ox." 



